NH to Refinance Mexican Debt

á The company has reduced the total amount outstanding on the loan by €10.7m and has also improved the spread over Libor from 511 to 325 basis points

á The loan, which has now been reduced to €62.8m, will mature in 2007 instead of 2004

á NH Hotels will simultaneously increase its indirect stake in NH Mexico by 10.3% to 62%, at a cost of €9.85m.

NH Hotels will save approximately €15.7m between now and 2007 thanks to signing this important refinancing deal in Mexico. The company has managed to reduce the amount of the loan outstanding from an international bank to NH Mexico by €10.7m to €62.8m.

Interest charges on the loan will also decrease substantially, as the spread over Libor has been cut from 511 to 325 basis points. The loan is now in the form of a syndicated loan from a number of Spanish and foreign banks. The drop in interest charges alone will represent an important saving for the company, amounting to around €5m in total.

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In addition, the term of the loan has now been extended from 2004 to end-2007 with increasing partial repayments, which will also improve the company`s financial position.

In a parallel move, the hotel chain has increased its stake in NH Mexico by 10.31% through its 64.55%-owned subsidiary Latinoamericana de Gestión Hotelera. NH Hotel`s subsidiary now holds 62% of NH Mexico, at a cost of €9.85m.

ABOUT NH Hoteles: After purchasing the Dutch chain Krasnapolsky in July 2000, the Mexican chain Krystal in June 2001 and the German chain Astron on February 25, the Group NH Hoteles (www.nh-hoteles.com) holds the third place in the European Ranking of Business Hotels. NH owns 239 hotels with almost 35.000 rooms in 17 countries around Europe, Latin America and Africa. The recent acquisition of the German chain Astron Hotels is the consolidation of NH in Europe, since Astron was the third Urban Hotel Operator in Germany. NH Hoteles currently has 38 projects under way, representing 6,600 new rooms. The hotels under the NH brand stand out for the high quality of their services and their facilities, their thoughtful, uniform and comfortable decoration designed to please the needs of each and every customer.

All hotels dispose of the most advanced technologies in order to provide their customers with all possible communication channels, either while they are working or while they are enjoying their stay. The second major concern of the company is gastronomy. All hotels offer a cuisine of the highest quality. The prestigious Chef Ferrán Adriá, founder of El Bulli, joined NH Hoteles and introduced new concepts, such as “nhube” (original locations where gastronomy, entertainment and rest are combined) and “Fast Good”. The NH Group is quoted on the Madrid Stock Exchange (within the Ibex 35) and in the Euronext in Amsterdam. NH Hoteles is also a member of Stoxx Europe 600, in which all major European companies are included. NH Hoteles is also included in the prestigious Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI).